Teachers Are Still Legally Allowed to Hit Students in 19 States

Maybe you’ve heard your parents, or more likely your grandparents, talk about teachers hitting kids in school. They might have mentioned a wrap on the knuckles or being clocked with a ruler. We usually think of those as strange tales from days past, but the reality is corporal punishment is still legal in some states and there are some groups that are particularly vulnerable.

According to Vocativ, It’s still legal for public school teachers to hit children in 19 states, and legal for private school teachers to hit students in all states but two. While that’s pretty surprising, it’s not surprising to hear who teachers are hitting the most: black children, boys and disabled children.

A study by the University of Texas at Austin found that schools use corporal punishment as much as 50% more often on black students and students who have disabilities. In some states, boys are five times as likely to receive corporal punishment than girls.

By punishing these populations more than others, we’re showing them that the system is already working against them, even when they are children. Though corporal punishment is meant to punish bad behavior and correct it, the study noted juvenile crime did not increase after states banned corporal punishment, meaning there are other effective — maybe even more effective — ways to correct bad behavior.

In fact, the study's lead author, Elizabeth Gershoff, told Vocativ that spanking, a form of corporal punishment, actually makes children behave worse.

“The more children are spanked, the less well-behaved they are, the more aggressive they are, the more mental health problems they have, the worse relationships they have with their peers, the lower cognitive ability they have, and unfortunately the higher risk they have for experiencing physical abuse at the hands of their parents,” she told Vocativ.

Doing this to certain students more than others, she said, appears as discrimination. And while the study didn't find a motive to punish some students more than others, we agree with Elizabeth. It does seem like discrimination, and it also seems wrong.